Time For the Long View

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In my last Say It For You blog post, I shared insights to the way investors tend to invest the majority of their money in domestic equities, ignoring the benefits of diversifying into foreign companies. As content marketers, I explained, using consistent posting of valuable information, we can position our clients as SMEs, giving them a better chance at overcoming their prospects’ home biases….

A second insight into investor behavior that can prove valuable in content creation is what Sam Savage dubs “the Flaw of Averages” (a play on “Law of Averages”.  The S&P 500 stock market index is a good example of the way statistics can be misunderstood, Savage explains.

The US stock market has delivered an average annual return of around 10% since 1926, Dimensional points out. But short-term results may vary, and in any given period stock returns can be positive, negative, or flat. Over the years 1957 through the end of 2023, the S&P Index has returned an annualized average return of 10.26%. But, what is the proper way to view those results?

  • On a daily basis, the index was up 52% of the time.
  • The S&P 500 was up in 73% of the individual years over that time frame.
  • The S&P 500 was up in 95% of the ten year periods of its existence.

At Say It For You, we’ve learned over the years that in content marketing, nothing speaks quite as loud as numbers. Statistics dispel false impressions, grab web visitors’ attention, and demonstrate the extent of the problem the business owner or practitioner can help solve.

At the same time, ethical marketing means promoting products or services in a manner that is both honest and responsible, Nathan Neely points out in the LinkedIn article “Doing the Right Thing”. That means providing accurate information about pricing, ingredients, including being transparent about how data is collected.

In creating content, we want to:

  1. position our business owners or professional practitioners as Subject Matter Experts
  2. provide visitors to our clients’ websites with valuable information and a positive experience
  3. use statistics to both educate readers and stimulate them to action.

Throughout the process, though, we need to demonstrate to prospects the value of taking a long view in their buying decisions.

 

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Test Their Content Reading Smarts

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“Test Your Hearing Smarts” is the title of a page in the Winter Wellness issue of Prevention Magazine. What helps with tinnitus (ringing in the ears)? Is it earplugs, mindfulness, or surgery – or does nothing help (you’re stuck with the problem)? The answer: There’s no known cure, but mindfulness training (using a white noise machine) can actually help in many cases. Which of these foods are good for your hearing? Coconuts, walnuts, and wild rice all contain nutrients that support good hearing.

At Say It For You, we’ve found, quizzes like this are a very good a content marketing tactic. Online readers tend to be curious creatures and “self-tests” tend to engage and help them relate in a more personal way to the information being presented. What’s more, since one of the biggest challenges in writing to promote a business or practice over long periods of time is keeping the content fresh, quizzes help “vary the menu”.

Other positive aspects of quizzes and tests include:

  • “Self-tests” tend to engage readers and help them relate in a more personal way to the information presented.
  • Quiz questions and answers can offer a different perspective on fact sets readers have forgotten.
  • When readers strain to remember something and then find the answer, they tend to repeat that fact set in their conversations with others (perhaps driving those others to check out the website).
  • Our curiosity is most intense when we’re testing our own knowledge, making tests, games, and quizzes hard to resist.

Research done about ads is relevant to quizzes and tests, I believe. A study done at the University of Bath in conjunction with the Nielson company came up with two ways to score ads.

  1. Information Power Score – measures what the consumer perceives as the value of the message
  2. Emotive Power Score – measures if the emotion is going to change feelings about the brand

In a sense, quizzes like the Test Your Hearing Smarts are powerful on both counts – important, actionable information is being conveyed to readers, and that information is very personal in nature.

“All bloggers would like to get more interaction and participation from their readers and visitors,” says vandelaydesign.com.  Tests and surveys engage readers,  we’ve found at Say It For You, making them feel they are part of a conversation with my business and practice owner clients.

 

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“Did-You-Know?” Content Marketing

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This week, my Say It For You blog posts were inspired by the 2024 Farmer’s Almanac…

“Growing up a city girl, I thought many people were farmers because they were incapable of doing any other work. Then I moved to the country and made a bumbling discovery: To be a successful farmer, you need to have the smarts – and not just in one area.” A good farmer, the author belatedly realized, is a jack-of-all-trades – a) ace problem-solver b) soil scientist  c) marketer  d) mechanic, someone who knows how to fix a range of low-tech to extremely high-tech equipment such as drones and water sensor devices.

One of the most important “powers” of content marketing, we’ve found at Say It For You, is the ability to turn a false perceptions – of an individual, of a business, or even of an entire industry – on its head. Not only can the myth-busting power of blog content correct misinformation reflected in customer questions and comments highlight a business’ strengths, myth-debunking makes for engaging -reading!
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In just the way the information in Farmers’ Almanac about farmers using high-tech drones, did-you-know content “teasers” can spark interest when used in blog post titles. Little known details can be used to describe a unique business policy, to clarify the way in which a product works, or explain why one of the services provided by that business particularly effective in solving a problem.

“Harvesting” tidbits of information will always prove useful to content writers. While “tidbit” posts are just one of the dozens of different “genres” we can use to lend variety to out posts, unusual tidbits of information put writer and reader on the same side of the presentation, with both experiencing wonder about the unusual “byte” being shared.

Online visitors searching for a product or a service, I explain to business owners, typically have no idea what it takes to do what you do and how much effort you put into acquiring the expertise you’re going to use to their benefit. Did-you-know content has the power to close that gap, showing the level of preparation and effort on the part of both owner and employees which will be devoted to delivering the expert advice, service, and products they can expect.

As the Farmer’s Almanac shows, “did-you-know?” content marketing is a great way to “plant” trust in prospects!

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Blogging the Buck by the Horns

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This week’s Say It For You two blog posts are inspired by the 2023 Almanac for Farmers & City Folk…..

From the fascinating article “Shed Meds”, I learned that “sheds”, or deer antlers, are used for making not only buttons, lamps, knife handles, and dog chews, but are in world-wide demand for use in medical research. Of course, at Say It For You, I’ve long touted the advantages of using trivia in blogging for business. Trivia can help spark curiosity and interest in readers, at the same time helping business owners and professionals explain what they do and how they believe it should best be done.

I’m going to suggest ways in which different types of businesses or practices might use the trivia I found in this article, at the same time reminding readers that in blog posts, trivia are just jumping-off points for the main message…

  • Every spring mail deer, as well as elk, moose, and caribous, grow themselves a new set of antlers
    This fact might be used in a blog by a company selling fire extinguishers, water filters, or dried herbs, each of which should be replaced at least once a year.

  • Chinese medicine has used antlers for thousands of years to support bone health.
    This tidbit could inspire a blog for an orthopedic medical practice – or a vitamin supplement manufacturer.

  • Deer use their antlers to compete with each other for mates and territory.
    This information could be used in a martial arts studio’s blog.

  • Antlers fill an ecological role, because once they are shed, they become an important source of calcium and other minerals to a variety of small animals such as squirrels, mice, and porcupines.
    Any business might use this tidbit in their blog to demonstrate ways in which they are environmentally aware.

  • Rustic antler buttons are often used to adorn crunchy, hand-knitted sweaters and coats..
    Fashion boutiques and craft shops might feature this fact in their blog.

Use trivia to blog your buck by the horns!

 

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In Blogging for Business, Answer the Question: “Compared to What?”

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Always “reading around” for background materials for this Say It For You blog, I learned two different startling statistics about the travel industry. First, at a recent networking meeting, I heard from presenter Gloria Thomas of Eight Streams Wealth that travel represents $9.25 trillion worth of business here in the U.S. Then from reading Tourism Review News, I learned that tourism has generated 20% of total world employment since 2013. Conclusion: Travel is a big, big deal.

Same message, just in different words? Yes and no.

Both presentations offered attention-commanding statistics. From Tourism Review, I learned that, in a single year, there are 1.4 billion international arrivals registered across the globe and that fully 20% of the jobs generated worldwide between 2025-2019 were in travel and tourism.

What lent Gloria Thomas’ presentation extra “oomph”, in my opinion, was the “compared to what?” element. That $9.25 trillion in U.S. travel business? Our oil & gas industry generates $330 billion. Our auto industry? $500 billion. Hollywood? A “mere” $300 billion.

It’s been a long-held belief of mine: nothing speaks quite as loud as numbers, which is why, in teaching how to create content for blog posts, I stress the power of using statistics. Real numbers dispel false impressions people have about an industry and can be used to demonstrate the extent of a problem before you set about showing how you help solve that problem. From a customer acquisition standpoint, statistics relate to the theory of social proof – humans are more willing to do something other people are already doing.

The thing about numbers, though, is they’re tricky. Statistics are a valuable form of information, to be sure, and, as my friend Gloria proved, answering the “compared to what?” question invests those statistics with more power. But in blog marketing, I’ve come to realize, there’s even more needed. For every statistic about the company or about one of its products or services, even with the addition of comparisons, the content writers needs to address every reader’s unspoken question – So, is that good for me (compared to what I am doing or using now)?

Bottom line: The raw ingredients of blogging for business need to be “converted” into relational, emotional terms that compel reaction – and action. In describing your products, your services, your business credo, don’t forget to answer the question: Compared to what??

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